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MW men’s basketball power rankings and picks

Here are my Mountain West men’s basketball power rankings for this week, along with predictions on this week’s games.

As always, I would love to hear your feedback/opinions.

1. San Diego State (20-6 overall, 10-3 MW): Back on top after two impressive home wins over Wyoming and Colorado State. The Aztecs also remain in first place in the conference and are the only undefeated team at home.

2. Boise State (18-7, 8-4): A loss at Fresno State last Saturday snapped the Broncos’ eight-game winning streak. Some injuries and suspensions forced it to be down some guys in Fresno. We will see how it bounces back at UNLV this week.

3. Wyoming (20-6, 9-4): Got a much-needed win at home over lowly San Jose State. The Cowboys need to get senior forward Larry Nance Jr. back healthy (mononucleosis) but it won’t be this week. Its lone game this week at Nevada won’t be easy.

4. Colorado State (21-5, 8-5): Still right up near the top, but the Rams will be tested this week with games at Fresno State and home against a suddenly improved Air Force team.

5. Utah State (14-10, 7-5): Quietly in the hunt for an upper division finish. Forward David Collette will likely be the league’s freshman of the year. Watch out for the Aggies the rest of the season.

6. Fresno State (12-13, 7-5): The Bulldogs proved they, too, are still in the hunt in this league with an impressive home win over Boise State. Games this week with Colorado State and Utah State are big ones.

7. Air Force (12-13, 5-9): Winners of three of their last four games — all at home — but the Falcons seem to be hitting their stride. They need to show they can win away from Clune Arena. Air Force is just 1-6 in league play and 1-9 overall on the road.

8. UNLV (14-11, 5-7): A rough season got worse last week when freshman guard and the conference’s second-leading scorer Rashad Vaughn went out with a knee injury and will be out until the MW Tournament — at the earliest. Way too much talent for the Runnin’ Rebels to be where they’re at right now.

9. New Mexico (14-11, 6-7): An overtime loss at Nevada last Saturday — after the Lobos had a big first-half lead — was a tough one to stomach. New Mexico needs to learn how to finish games. Still a dangerous team that can play defense.

10. Nevada (8-16, 4-8): The record isn’t good, but the Wolf Pack is not as bad as the record indicates. AJ West is a force inside, and if a couple of guards get hot Nevada can beat anyone.

11. San Jose State (2-22, 0-12): Down to eight players now. This season can’t end fast enough for the Spartans.

2 thoughts on “MW men’s basketball power rankings and picks”

This isn’t a comment about the rankings but rather a comment about the impressive array of awards received by the WTE and Boomerang last week. He sports staff does and incredible job or reporting and story writing! Each morning I can’t wait to see whats next in the paper. So, to Robert and the rest of the crew congrats and thanks so much for the terrific job you guys do! It’s really a pleasure reading your articles…great job everyone!! Patrick